Announcing Tuck Dean Paul Danos’ Plan to Step Down in 2015

I'm writing to share the news that Paul Danos will not be seeking reappointment for a sixth term as dean of the Tuck School of Business at the end of his fifth term in June 2015.

In Tuck's 114-year history, few have had a greater impact on the school than Paul. His steadfast commitment to business-education excellence, both in Tuck's foundational MBA program and other closely-related offerings, has earned Tuck a unique place among the world's top graduate schools of management and business.

Paul joined Tuck in 1995 and, accompanied by his wife Mary Ellen, expertly guided the school through one of the most transformative periods in its history. During his tenure—the longest at Tuck and one of the longest in management education—he oversaw an increase in the size and quality of Tuck's faculty, its student body, and its world-class residential campus infrastructure. These changes, together with curricular innovations including increased student-faculty access and new global opportunities, have kept the school at the forefront of management education for close to two decades.

Under Paul's deanship, Tuck has pushed the frontiers, not just in its flagship MBA program, but in many of its closely-related offerings, such as pioneering business education for non-business undergraduates with the Business Bridge Program in 1997 and, more recently, collaborating with the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice on the new Master of Health Care Delivery Science.

Tuck has excelled on every dimension under Paul's exceptional leadership, from the caliber of its students and strength of its faculty to the success and satisfaction of its graduates. The school's continued high placement among the world's top business schools is a testament to Paul's vision and leadership, and to Tuck's strategy of bringing the very best students together with a faculty of committed world-class scholar-educators.

Paul's contributions to Tuck and to management education cannot be overstated, and Dartmouth is grateful for his 19 years of outstanding service. As we look to the future, we anticipate significant global interest in the Tuck deanship from a qualified pool of international candidates. In the coming weeks, I will be working with incoming provost Carolyn Dever to form a search committee and will be seeking input from faculty, senior administrators, students, and alumni as we conduct a thoughtful search for the next dean of Tuck.

See the announcement below for details, and please join me in congratulating Paul on his remarkable career and in wishing him and Mary Ellen the very best in the future.

Best wishes,

Phil Hanlon '77President

Tuck Dean Paul Danos Announces Plan to Step Down in 2015

Dean Paul Danos, whose focus on faculty excellence and the human side of leadership propelled the Tuck School of Business to the top ranks of graduate management education, announced today that he will not seek reappointment for a sixth term in June, 2015, when his current term ends.

Danos shared this announcement with students, faculty, and staff on the first day of classes of spring term. "Tuck is one of the finest business schools in the world, and it has been both an honor and privilege to serve as its dean. I realize that none of our achievements would have been possible without the contributions of our entire community—our skilled and caring faculty, our outstanding students, our committed staff, and our loyal and dedicated alumni. Your support and encouragement over the last two decades has been vital to Tuck's continued success and has meant the world to me. Tuck is a great school with a virtuous circle of caring people who will ensure that its future will be as bright as its past."

Dartmouth President Phil Hanlon D'77 stated: "Dartmouth is forever grateful to Dean Paul Danos for his 19 years of outstanding service. His commitment to the quality of the MBA program and to preparing students for a lifetime of responsible leadership has earned Tuck a unique place among the world's top graduate schools of business. Paul and his wife, Mary Ellen, have been the very best ambassadors for Tuck and Dartmouth during their time here in Hanover."

President Hanlon will be working with incoming Provost Carolyn Dever to form a search committee and will be seeking input from faculty, senior administrators, students, and alumni as they conduct a thoughtful search for the next dean of Tuck.

Danos is the ninth dean of Tuck and the Laurence F. Whittemore Professor of Business. His tenure is the longest in Tuck's history and one of the longest in management education. By the end of his fifth term, nearly 50 percent of Tuck's 10,000-plus living alumni will have graduated under his deanship.

Under Danos, Tuck has consistently been cited for the excellence of its MBA program, with student qualifications, employment levels, and compensation rates for its graduates among the highest in the world. Tuck is consistently ranked among the top MBA programs, nationally and internationally, and is known for its world-leading alumni giving rate, which is nearly three times the average participation rate of other business schools.

Danos joined Tuck in 1995 and has guided the school through one of the most transformative periods in its history. He led a dramatic expansion of Tuck's world-class faculty and the building out of a residential campus widely regarded as one of the finest in the world. He oversaw the launch of nine centers and initiatives and introduced a broad array of innovations to the MBA curriculum that further increased student access to faculty expertise and enabled the school to keep pace with the ever-changing landscape of global business. Danos also led the launch of Dartmouth¹s Master of Health Care Delivery Science program and the nation's first Business Bridge Program for undergraduates, and oversaw the development and execution of a strategy to greatly expand Tuck Executive Education's unique portfolio executive offerings.

At Tuck, Danos presided over an increase in both the size and quality of the student body, with traditional markers of student achievement soaring to new heights during his time as dean. Under Danos, Tuck classes became more international, diverse, and balanced between genders. The size of the faculty also grew during this period. Under his leadership, the number of full-time faculty at Tuck rose from 36 to 51, as did their levels recognition and accomplishment. Today, Tuck's scholar-educators lead the nation in citations per author and have collectively received more than 200 awards for research and teaching.

"Tuck is in a position of great strength thanks to Paul's outstanding leadership and the exceptional team he has put in place," said Board of Overseers Chair Christopher J. Williams T'84. "The opportunity to lead one of the world's truly great business schools is a rare one, and as we look to the future, we anticipate there being significant global interest in this role."

Williams said Tuck plans to announce a new dean in early 2015.

Prior to Tuck, Danos served as a senior associate dean and chaired professor of accounting at the University of Michigan. Danos was chairman of the accounting department at the University of Michigan from 1984 to 1991 and also served as the director of the Paton Accounting Center from 1988-1991. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1974 and BS and MBA from the University of New Orleans. He is a CPA and a member of the AICPA.